Oil Prices Drop as Supply Concerns Continue

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Brent prices have dipped below $65 per barrel again as the willingness of Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ countries to unwind even more production into the summer months depresses market sentiment. A potential Russia-Ukraine negotiations breakthrough or a rapprochement between the US and Iran loom large for oil markets, with bullish factors remaining scarce.

Posting a 48% year-over-year plunge in Q1 net profits to $1.4 billion, UK oil major BP (NYSE:BP) announced its strategy chief, Giulia Chierchia, will be leaving the company on June 01 under pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment.

An unprecedented power outage debilitated the economy of Spain this Monday, grinding every single oil refinery in the country to a forced halt, whilst also paralysing traffic and grounding flights, however, the cause still remains unknown.

The US Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollings, signed an emergency waiver that allows the sale of E15, a higher-ethanol gasoline blend that biofuel producers sought to sell all year round, in a bid to lower summer gasoline prices across the Midwest.

The White House imposed sanctions on three tankers delivering oil and refined products to Yemen’s Houthis, with the Tulip, Maisan, and White Whale vessels routinely shuttling to the port of Ras Isa, as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on them.

Iraq’s top political brass met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa this week to discuss restoring the Kirkuk-Baniyas oil pipeline, out of operation since 2003 when it was damaged by US airstrikes, seeking to avoid intermediaries in supplying the Syrian market.

KoBold Metals, the mining startup backed by Bill Gates, is preparing to announce huge deals in Africa’s heartland of Congo after a successful raise of $537 million in January, seeking to concurrently tap into the emerging US-DR Congo minerals pact.

Almost immediately after announcing the $650 million purchase of a 25% stake in Chinese chemicals producer Wanhua Chemical, Kuwait’s national oil company, KPC, is now reportedly in active negotiations over taking a stake in Woodside’s (ASX:WDS) Louisiana LNG.

China’s State Council has approved the construction of 10 new nuclear power reactors at an estimated cost of $27.5 billion, with each unit being an extension of existing plants, as Beijing currently wields 60 GW of nuclear capacity.

At least six tankers have been queuing next to Venezuela’s oil ports, including 5 vessels chartered by Chevron and one by trading firm Vitol, as the Latin American country is bracing for the May 27 expiry of the US oil major’s production license.

Faced with a 60-million-tonne import dependence on coking coal, India’s government has publicly encouraged its steel companies to acquire coking coal and iron ore mining assets abroad, with Indonesia and Australia topping the list.

Robust Chinese buying raised LME three-month copper prices to $9,460 per metric tonne as buyers prepare for the May Day holiday in the Asian country, with China stocks remaining low on the back of strong Asia-to-US flows that still keep CME futures at a premium to other regional prices.

Seeking to curb reliance on imported agricultural feedstocks, Chinese authorities will be mandating a slash in soymeal use in animal feed to 10% by 2030, expanding production capacity in food waste, insect, and animal-based protein instead.

New Delhi is preparing to offer the United States a future-proof guarantee of a most-favored-nation clause in bilateral trade, potentially making India the first large country to sign a trade deal with the Trump administration.